Medicare Delays New Card Mailings

You may not receive your new Medicare identification card as early as originally announced because Medicare officials are stepping up their anti-fraud efforts as even more scammers target beneficiaries.

The federal agency that oversees Medicare had said it would start mailing the new cards in April in a scheduled rollout but recently announced that it won’t start mailing out the cards to existing beneficiaries until May or later. Mailings to new newly eligible Medicare beneficiaries, however, were still scheduled to start in April.

The newly designed cards, ordered by Congress, were meant to fight identity theft and prevent fraud by replacing Social Security numbers with unique 11-digit codes. But scammers are using the change to confuse and even harass beneficiaries. Some con artists call and demand payment for the cards. In another scam, they claim Medicare recipients have a refund on their old Medicare cards and insist that they provide their bank information to process the return of funds.

Medicare officials want beneficiaries to know that there is no fee for the new card and they do not have to do anything to receive it, as long as your address is correct. If you need to update your address, visit your My Social Security account or call 1-800-772-1213.

To report a scam, call 1-800-MEDICARE.

Understanding the Delay

The Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS), the federal agency that oversees Medicare, said it was continuously adjusting and improving the mailing strategy to make sure cards were being mailed to accurate addresses and Medicare beneficiaries were being protected along with their personal information.

“We are working on making our processes even better by using the highest levels of fraud protection when we mail new cards to current Medicare beneficiaries,” a statement on the CMS website reads. “Over the next few weeks, we will complete this additional work and begin mailing new cards to current Medicare beneficiaries.”

How to Avoid Medicare Card Scams

Medicare.gov advises Medicare beneficiaries to only give out your new Medicare number to doctors, pharmacists, other health care providers, your insurers, or people you trust to work with Medicare on your behalf.

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